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THE TRIPOne month housesit in The Netherlands. Museum De Lakenhal has the best fine art collection in Leiden, the town in which my head rests.

LOCATION
The museum is in central Leiden’s ‘Cultural quarter’ at the Laecken-Halle (Cloth Hall) built in 1640 where the world famous Leiden cloth was inspected and certified.

ARCHITECTURE
Leiden’s City Architect, Arent van’s-Gravesande, designed this Dutch Classicist style, city palace in 1639. He also designed Leiden’s Marekerk. In 1869 the building was reconstructed by City Architect, J.W. Schaap, into a city museum, adding a staircase to change the second floor into an exhibition space. The expanding collection later utilized the first floor and then extended into the Pape Wing. The museum plans further restoration and expansion aimed at a 2018 unveiling.

COLLECTION
A diverse collection of works by Dutch master painters, including Rembrandt (born in Leiden) and Theo van Doesburg (of Leiden and founder of the influential De Stijl magazine). The history of seven centuries of Leiden cloth can also be experienced in the original sales hall, including hallmarks and sample books.

FREE ADMISSION
Purchase a Museumkaart and visit for free, also can be used at Museum Boerhaave, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden and others in Leiden. To celebrate The Relief of Leiden, entrance is free on October 3rd.

REFRESHMENT
There is a small coffee and tea space in the entrance hall. The museum is close to many restaurants in the centre of Leiden.

EXHIBITION
Happily introduced to the work of Dutch abstract figurative artist Hendrik Valk (1897 – 1986) from his early period when he lived in Leiden. The exhibition clearly demonstrates the process of his abstraction from natural representation, removing details to discover the essence of line.

Hendrik Valk, Triptych, 1925

HISTORY REPEATS
The museum is reviving the history of Leiden Cloth by manufacturing a new line of fabric bearing the hallmark ‘Leids Laken’ by commissioning designers, such as Christie van der Haak to develop contemporary fabrics that will be on sale in the museum shop as of 2017.

MY FAVOURITE THINGS
This museum has a variety of beautiful paintings and objects that illustrate the great history of Leiden as a prosperous trading and university town. Although the birthplace of Rembrandt van Rijn, there is nary a trace of him, and finding him here is a treasure. A small painting called Spectacles Seller (allegory of sight) is one of a series based on the five senses painted by Rembrandt when he was eighteen. I find early works by renown artists are fascinating due to the awkwardness of an artist’s developing style, but often showing hints of what the artist will become, in this instance his use of chiaroscuro and character depiction.